Interesting Facts To Explore

Every band with twenty-three years of successful career has some facts that we, their fans, don´t know about. Let´s look at some of them.

“Guitar Signature.”

DID YOU KNOW CHRIS CHANEY HAS A SIGNATURE GRETSCH GUITAR?

American guitar builders Gretsch are very well known around the world because of their classy high-end hollow, semi hollow, and solid body guitars. They have been in business since 1883 and have made the guitars that most of us heard all our lives in the best records in history. For example, George Harrison used two models extensively (the Country Gentleman and the Duo Jet), Chet Atkins had his signature model too, as well as Billy Duffy from The Cult and no other than Brian Setzer, the guitar hero of an entire generation and life-long hero for Chris Chaney himself.

The Living End guitar player favored White Falcons all his career (like John Frusciante from RHCP), and he got to a point in his influential profession of being way more than the average rockabilly player that the company decided to make him a guitar under his name and with the band´s logo on the pickguard. Is it a dream come true for Chris Chaney? Of course!

“Performing at St. Jimmy.”

DID YOU KNOW CHRIS CHANEY PLAYED ST. JIMMY AT THE AMERICAN IDIOT MUSICAL?

Longtime friends Billy Joe Armstrong and Chris Chaney met backstage at a The Living End show in Los Angeles to hang out and when Chaney asked: “what are you up to?” Billy Joe answered he was doing a musical for Broadway named “American Idiot”.

Chaney responded he thought it was going to be a massive failure. Boy, was he wrong! Not only it became a hit, but it also had remakes all over the world. This story was told by The Living End guitar player and the front man himself at an interview with The Project 7 in February 2017. He played the St. Jimmy, sex, drugs, and rock n roll kind of character to critical acclaim for a very brief period (February 23 to 26, 2017).

“Scott Owen and Paul Kelly.”

DID YOU KNOW SCOTT OWEN PLAYED DOUBLE BASS WITH LEGEND PAUL KELLY?

Legendary Australian musician Paul Kelly, who was once named by David Fricke from The Rolling Stone Magazine as one of the finest songwriters he had ever heard, Australian or not, comparing him with titans like Bob Dylan and Neil Young. With over 20 studio albums, an extensive filmography and bibliography too, this heavy-weight Australian legend recruited Owen for the 2006 “Song of the Old Rake”. He also appears in the song´s video as part of the Strong Water Boys.

“Chris Cheney performs.”

DID YOU KNOW CHRIS CHENEY ONCE LEFT THE LIVING END?

At the end of the State of Emergency tour, on October 6th, 2006, the front man, lead singer, guitar player and main composer of the band told his bandmates he was quitting because he was burnt out. He was also experiencing writer´s block. For the first time in more than ten years, old school mates Owens and Cheney came apart musically and emotionally, since Cheney isolated himself from the rest of the band to regain energy. During that time, Cheney took Yoga lessons, painted, and devoted a lot of time to his new-born baby daughter. Holidays didn´t last too long, and the band set out to record their fantastic “White Noise” (2008) album as a triumphant comeback.

“Andy Strachan at solo.”

DID YOU KNOW ANDY STRACHAN RELEASED A SOLO ALBUM?

It was the year 2011, and The Living End was on a break from writing and recording after their 2011 hit album “The Ending Is Just the Beginning Repeating” when Andy Strachan left the drumming seat for the first time in his 25-year career to record his first solo album. He did it with tremendous support and encouragement from the Red Door Studios Co-owner Paul “Woody” Annison under the pseudonym “The Pants Collective”. It was released on May 30th, 2014 as a six-song EP, but the drummer didn’t do any touring to support it.

After such a long career, the list of awkward, unusual, and outstanding facts about these veteran Australian rockers could go on for ages, but we shall uncover only one bit of the mystery, keeping the mystique and the magic intact.